


A Life Well Lived

by orphan_account



Category: Carol (2015), The Price of Salt - Patricia Highsmith
Genre: Angst, F/F, Hospital, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-10 14:19:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6988483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nearly twenty years after the end of Carol --</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ratings and warnings subjective to change. In the book, Carol was supposed to be around 35 years old and Therese around 20, I think, so I'm thinking of them being 20+ years in this. Doesn't actually matter which time you choose, though. Only reason it's so far in the future is because I wanted Rindy to be an adult.

_ November 11th, 1972 _

  


Carol woke up to the tickling sensation of hair brushing against her shoulder and the soft sounds of Therese’s breathing. Having not had the opportunity to do so in a frustratingly long time, Carol wanted nothing more than to bury her nose in soft hair and stay there until Therese woke up, but the clock on the wall read eight-thirty and Rindy was expecting them in two hours.

Still, she didn’t quite have the heart to rip Therese from sleep, and so she gently crept from the bed into their bathroom, reasoning that Therese took less time to get ready, anyhow. Always a deep sleeper, Therese didn’t even twitch as Carol left the bed, nor as the water from the facet blared with an unfortunate intensity.

There was, however, a moan of irritation from the bedroom after Carol dropped her hairdryer on the floor thirty minutes in to her morning routine. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” Carol called out from the bathroom. “How did you sleep?”

Carol didn’t think the mumbled response was supposed to be a coherent sentence, so she didn’t bother to respond to it. When she pulled back the bathroom door, Therese was still lying lazily in bed, face buried into her pillows as if that would somehow keep the day’s responsibilities away.

“Get up,” Carol ordered, though not unkindly. “We need to leave soon.”

Therese flipped her head slightly so that her voice wouldn’t be muffled completely by the pillows. “Why can’t they just come here?” she asked, eyes still screwed shut.

Carol didn’t dignify the question with a response. Instead, she strut across the room and drew open the drapes to let in the morning light — bright, cheery, and effective. Therese groaned in faux-pain, but her eyes flickered open slowly.

“You’re mean,” Therese muttered.

“I know,” Carol said with a quirk of the lips. “Now get up.”

It took another moment of stubborn refusal, but Therese threw of the blankets and stumbled towards their bathroom. Carol smirked in her victory.

They were on the road slightly behind schedule, Therese in a slightly better mood and Carol in a slightly worse. Carol despised being late to Sunday brunch, although they were rarely on time, a point which Carol did not appreciate Therese’s constant vocalization of. As far as Therese could tell, if Rindy didn’t care about their slight tardiness, neither should they, though Carol never indulged in such excuses.

In fact, Carol’s insistence on arriving on time had become much worse in recent months. Therese did not need to ask to know that Carol’s determination to arrive at Rindy’s was particularly driven by the arrival of the nine-month old, Jack, who Carol was determined to spend as much time as possible with.

“You don’t suppose she’ll have coffee?” Therese joked as they started the last stretch of the drive. In the rush to leave, Therese had abandoned her normal cup, and was still groggy as a result.

“Undoubtedly,” Carol responded

Therese would never admit that she was speeding to Rindy’s house — Carol may have been anxious to get there, but she never failed to snap at Therese for going too far over the speedlimit — yet somehow they arrived at Rindy’s home ten minutes faster than normal. Carol, fortunately, did not seem to notice as she exited the car and walked towards the front door. Therese trotted up behind her, wrapping an arm around Carol’s waist and placing a kiss on her cheek.

“Anxious, Grandma?”

Carol hit her shoulder lightly. “Don’t you dare call me that.”

Therese smiled as she withdrew her arm from around Carol’s waist before the door was open. Both Rindy and her husband, Charles, were aware of the nature of their relationship, but Carol was never fond of showing affection in public. She always became even more withdrawn in front of Rindy.

The door was pulled open by Charles, grinning widely at them. He was a tall man with a loud voice and an active personality. Neither Carol nor Therese had been overly fond of him at first, but he was quick to grow on them with his easy laugh and accepting ways.

“Come on in,” he said, moving aside politely. “Rindy’s in the kitchen getting stuff ready. I can take your coats for you.”

“Thank you, Charles,” Carol said softly. “You wouldn’t happen to have any coffee ready, would you?”

Charles chuckled and motioned to the kitchen with his head. “Kitchen, as well.”

Therese mouthed a thank you at him as she followed Carol into the kitchen, earning another laugh from Charles. Rindy was taking something out of the oven, made aware of their presence only by Jack’s happy gurgling from his highchair. She popped her head up and beamed at them.

“Hi there!” she placed the hot oven pads on the counter and walked over to embrace first Carol and then Therese. “How was the drive?”

“Hello, sweetheart,” Carol said, already moving towards Jack and cradling him gently. “It was lovely.”

Rindy glanced over at Therese, eyebrows raised in question, and Therese shrugged. Charles was already returning to the kitchen and noticed the lack of coffee in Therese’s hands. Without asking, he poured a cup for her and handed it over before returning to Rindy’s side and kissing the top of her head. Therese smiled appreciatively.

“That smells really good,” Therese said, pointing to the scones. “Can I do anything to help?”

“No, I’m good here. Just let me put these in a basket and we can sit down.” Rindy waved her off the same way Carol did. “Mom, can you bring Jack into the dining room for me?”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Carol said, kissing the little boy and carrying him off into the adjoining room. Therese attempted to grab something to carry, as well, but Rindy glared at her and ordered her to sit.

Conversation flowed easily between the four of them, though Carol was often distracted by Jack’s happy gurgling. Therese’s attention drifted to the two of them quite often, secretly mesmerized by the way she interacted with him. It reminded her of when Rindy was little and Carol would sit with her and talk in soothing tones. The years between then and now seemed impossibly long and short all at once.

In some ways, Therese was jealous of Carol’s little family. Rindy and Jack were completely and absolutely hers and, no matter how much she loved any of them, that wasn’t the sort of bond Therese could impede on. Oftentimes, she felt like an outsider looking in.

Rindy’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts with a high, clear voice. “Have you decided if you want to join us for Thanksgiving?”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Carol said slowly, glancing over at Therese. “It’s very kind of you to invite us, but I’m afraid it’s probably best if we don’t come.”

The silence that followed Rindy’s “Oh”, was almost painful. After a long moment, Rindy asked, “Is it because dad is coming?”

It was useless to deny it, but Carol offered her brightest smile. Under the table, she squeezed Therese’s hand. “I was thinking Therese and I might get out of town for a few weeks. We’ll be back in time for this little one’s first Christmas.”

“That sounds fun,” Charles said, always quick to keep the conversation from becoming too awkward. “Where do you think you’ll go?”

Therese shrugged, hoping that by answering instead of Carol, the decision to leave for Thanksgiving Day wouldn’t hurt Rindy quite so much. “I was hoping to go to Maine for a bit.”

“I hear the weather isn’t great for driving this time of year,” Rindy mumbled, more to herself than anyone else.

“You know, a buddy of mine owns a restaurant up in Portland. Really good seafood. If you end up going, I’ll give you the name of the place,” Charles interjected before anyone else could react. Therese almost wanted to kiss him.

“That would be lovely, than you,” Therese nodded. Carol’s hand was still linked with hers under the table, holding on tightly. 

Rindy moved forward with the conversation, as well. “That’s right. Well, if you go, be sure to bring back some lobster.”

“Of course, dear,” Carol said. The hand under the table loosened.

The rest of the morning had passed relatively easily, with the subject of Thanksgiving satisfactorily dropped from conversation. Carol and Rindy discussed Christmas ideas for Jack and Therese was more than happy to sit idly by and listen, eyes flickering from the sister and mother to Jack and Charles who were playing a game of peekaboo. The only time Thanksgiving had been revived was when Rindy hugged Carol goodbye and whispered in her ear, “Just call if you change your mind, okay?”

“I will,” Carol promised. So long as Harge was there, Carol would not reconsider, but Rindy did not need to hear that sort of thing and thus she left without another word.

Back in their apartment, though, Carol fell unceremoniously on their couch, a distraught look on her face. Therese knelt down beside her, thumb tracing small circles on Carol’s forearm.

“Do you really want to go out of town?” Therese asked. The conversation at brunch had been news to her, neither haven spoken of a road trip in quite some time.

Carol laughed in a way that made Therese think she was very sad. “Why not? It might be nice to get out of town for a couple of days. If you don’t mind turkey at a restaurant this year instead of mine.”

Therese placed a kiss on Carol’s wrist and shook her head. “Not at all, if that’s what you want.” She paused to run a hand through Carol’s hair and watch the way it moved through her fingers. “I wouldn’t mind if you went over without me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Carol said almost harshly. “I’m not spending Thanksgiving without you.”

“I’m just saying, I wouldn’t mind. It might be easier to deal with Harge if you don’t have to worry about me,” Therese said. “Besides, I’m sure he’ll be on his best behavior in front of his new wife.”

It was Harge’s third marriage and while the two had been together for nearly three years, Therese and Carol still referred to her as the new one. It wasn’t that she was particularly young — even if she was, neither of them had much right to judge — but there was an overwhelming sense of naïvety to her. The woman seemed to think every piece of information was new and exciting, and her petite frame did little to help cultivate an air of maturity. 

“Therese, I am not leaving you alone on Thanksgiving and that’s that.” Carol shot her a look that insisted there was no more arguing to be done. Therese nodded.

“Well, if you want to go on a trip, I’d be more than happy to come with you,” Therese said simply. “And Maine does sound nice.”

Carol rolled her eyes, but reached out for Therese to join her on the couch. Once Therese was neatly situated in her arms, Carol sighed, “Why on earth do you want to go to Maine?”

“I don’t know, really,” Therese admitted. “I enjoyed our last trip there.”

Carol nuzzled her nose into the top of Therese’s hair, smiling at the memory of the little cottage they’d rented for a week. It had been a rather nice vacation, but it had been summer then, and Carol wasn’t certain if Maine would be quite so pleasant without the sun. Still, with Therese pressed close against her, Carol couldn’t think of denying her.

“Are you okay?” Therese asked and Carol realized she hadn’t answered.

“I’m fine, my darling,” Carol reassured her.

Before Therese could press the issue, the phone in their kitchen rang. Both grunted in disapproval, but Therese was the one to shift out of Carol’s arms and off the couch to get it. Carol pouted unhappily at the lack of contact.

Therese threw an apologetic look over her shoulder before answering the phone. “Hello?”

From her position on the couch, Carol could hear Therese trying to guide someone, presumably a coworker, through some instructions. “No, it should be on my desk,” Carol heard her say. “Are you sure?”

When Therese walked back into the room, Carol already knew what she was going to say. “I’ve got to go into work. Somehow the prints got misplaced.”

“Alright,” Carol said, leaning forward to kiss her good bye. “Hurry back.”

“I will,” Therese promised. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst! Oh my goodness I'm so excited by where I'm going with this you don't even understand. I'm sorry.

Therese was, for her part, an excellent driver. Perhaps better than Carol, although neither would ever acknowledge that fact. The worst Therese was guilty of was the occasional speeding on country roads where cars were few and far between, and even there, Therese only received a single ticket, though she’d been pulled over three times.

And even though she knew it wouldn’t change anything, it was the one thing Carol continued to tell herself as she tapped her fingers incessantly against the arm of the uncomfortable waiting room chair. There was noise bombarding her from all angles — loud, impossibly obnoxious sounds from anxious patents and over worked nurses. Carol didn’t know whether she wanted to scream or break out into sobs. So instead, she stayed silent and watched with blurred vision as the nurses’ scrubs turned into nothing more than hazy blobs of pastel colors.

An employee at the Times had called with a panicked voice and before he could spit out, Carol knew something was wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong. In a clipped voice, Carol demanded the name of the hospital Therese had been taken to, and the weak voiced man told her. Without thinking, Carol rushed out of the apartment and to the street, where hailing a cab took unbearably long. At the hospital, when she demanded to know where Therese was, a nurse had asked her about their connection and without thinking, Carol answered aunt.

_“I’m all she has. Please.”_

No one doubted the story of a grieving aunt coming to the aid of her orphan niece, but it didn’t matter. Therese was still in surgery and until she was out, even with their fake relation, there was nothing Carol could do but sit and wait.

A nurse, for what Carol swore was the twentieth time, though it was likely only the third, approached her with a sympathetic smile. Carol wanted to slap her for it. “Can I get you anything, ma’am?”

Carol closed her eyes and shook her head. Her throat was dry, but was terrified that if she ate or drank anything, it would just come back up. She wanted to see Therese, but that wasn’t an option and every time the nurse came over to speak to her, it was like a needle in her side.

“Let me know if you can think of anything,” the nurse said before retreating.

There was a large part of Carol that was terrified every time hospital staff approached her, afraid they would demand that she leave. Whether because she had been in the waiting room too long or some pesky snoop decided to check her familial relation, Carol was certain that at some point she would be thrown from the room and left in the dark until Therese was well enough to call.

_If Therese is well enough to call_ , an ugly voice reminded her, but Carol pushed the thought away.

Something soft hit her ankle and Carol looked down to see a young girl, roughly seven years old, bending down to pick up a tattered stuffed bear. The girl glanced back up at her with shy eyes and bit her bottom lip while mumbling, “Sorry.”

“That’s alright,” Carol told her, thankful that her voice didn’t shake so as to not frighten the poor girl.

She expected the little girl to run back to whichever family member was supposed to be watching over her, but the small figure stayed strangely still. The only movement was a slight shifting of weight from foot to foot. In her left hand, she was clutching to the foot of the bear, and the right hung sadly by her side.

“Why are you in the hospital?” the little girl asked after a while.

Carol smiled weakly in an attempt at bravery. It struck her, as she looked into the red-rimmed eyes of the child, that if the girl was waiting in the same waiting room as her, then there was some poor soul trapped in the Intensive Care Unit that the girl relied on. “Someone I care about was in a very bad car accident,” Carol explained gently. “So I’m waiting here until they let me see her.”

The little girl nodded with an understanding that Carol didn’t think she’d be capable of. “My daddy’s in there, too.”

“I’m sorry.” It wasn’t enough, but there was little else to be said. “What is your name?”

“Julie.”

“Julie,” Carol repeated. “That’s a beautiful name. Do you have family here with you?”

With the hand that wasn’t holding on to the stuffed animal, Julie motioned to a frazzled looking woman a few rows away, not paying attention to the surrounding world. “My mommy.”

“Are you sure she won’t miss you?” Part of Carol wanted Julie to go and part of her was terrified of being left alone in the agony of her own thoughts.

Julie shook her head as she pulled herself onto the chair next to Carol and centered her bear carefully in the middle of her lap. One of the plastic eyes was chipped, Carol noticed, reminding her of an old stuff rabbit Rindy used to own that had a similar defect. Rindy, of course, had refused to let Carol or Therese fix it, claiming that the chip gave it character.

Carol smiled wistfully at a memory of Therese and Rindy posing the ugly thing for a photo shoot. As far as Carol knew, the photos were still tucked away somewhere. Whenever she was free from the stifling hospital with Therese in tow, she vowed to look for them.

“Does your bear have a name?” Carol asked, her voice barely more than a hoarse whisper.

Julie nodded her head and dark curls bounced wildly. “It’s Freddy. I brought him for my daddy.”

“That was very kind of you.”

“Do you have anything for your friend?”

It was an innocent question, but Carol felt a tear slowly make its way down her cheek and she let out a bitter laugh. Julie did not seem to mind the outburst, though. She just stared back up at her with curious eyes as Carol wiped away her tears.

“No, I’m afraid I don’t,” she whispered.

Julie cocked her head to one side and without warning, hopped off her seat and rushed to where her mother was sitting. Carol watched wearily as the young girl dug through her mother’s purse and ran back, holding another stuffed animal. This time Julie’s mother seemed to snap out of her daze and called for her daughter to come back, but Julie returned to Carol’s side and thrust out the toy. It was a much smaller bear and of laughably low quality, but it was impossibly precious, too.

“For your friend,” Julie explained.

Carol picked it up carefully with glassy eyes. “Thank you.”

Julie picked up her own bear, Freddy, and returned to her mother’s side. Carol eye’s dropped to the tattered thing in her hands and she watched as drops fell onto the brown fabric.

“Ms. Aird?”

Carol stood immediately, one hand clutching Julie’s bear and the other on her purse. “Yes?” she asked a bit too quickly and with far too much emotion. “Is Therese alright?”

The doctor, a tall man with a receding head of hair, met her straight in the eye with a sense of candor Carol would otherwise appreciate. “I am not going to lie to you, Ms. Aird. We still do not know her exact condition. We’ve managed to stop the internal bleeding and her vitals are near stable, but she is unconscious and we can’t tell when she’ll wake up.”

Carol nodded dumbly, barely able to process what had just been told to her. “Can I see her?”

She was terrified that she would be declined when he hesitated. “You need to understand, it will be difficult to see her. There are tubes and—”

“I don’t care,” Carol growled. “I want to see her.”

The doctor nodded curtly and told her to follow. Through the horrid white walls filled with uncaring strangers, Carol felt her knees go weak and her stomach flip, but she followed the doctor every step until he brought her to a private room. Carol took a step towards the door, but the doctor held her back for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Aird, for what you are going through,” he said slowly. “But there is still hope.”

Carol tilted her head in understanding and moved towards the room. Sounds from the several machines hovering around Therese’s bedside interrupted the silence. In the middle of it all was Therese, unconscious on the bed, eyes closed, face cut, and tube in down her throat. Carol let out a terrible sob at the sight and stumbled into a chair by Therese’s bedside. 

“Oh, my darling,” Carol whispered, fingers hovering gently over Therese’s face. She was terrified of causing any further damage on the already purpling skin. “My beautiful, beautiful darling.”

She was met with nothing but hollow beeps, echoing through the room as a taunting reminder that she would not be met with the sound of Therese’s voice.

“I need you to open your eyes, my angel.” Even if she had been awake, Carol wasn’t sure that Therese would’ve been able to hear her voice given how softly she was speaking. “I need you to come back to me.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay! But my classes are done for the summer *finally*. Whoo!

Abby arrived at the hospital roughly a half an hour before the end of visiting hours, as the first and only call Carol found the energy to make after a doctor informed her she would not be allowed to stay through the night. She fought with the secretary for a solid five minutes before Carol arrived in the waiting room, eyes read from exhaustion and sorrow. The moment she came into sight, Abby rushed to Carol’s side and wrapped her in a tight hug.

“I’m so sorry,” Abby whispered in her ear. “Tell me what you need.”

Carol exhaled loudly and shook her head in fatigue. “I need to get back to the room.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

Carol nodded meekly and linked her hands with Abby’s, leading her down the hallways to Therese’s room. Abby threw a glance towards the secretary, whose argument about “not family” had apparently been derailed by a complaining elderly woman. So Abby followed Carol without hearing any protest.

Abby could barely look at the bed, where the bruised and battered Therese laid unmoving. She had been warned, of course, of the machines and the casts, but it was another thing to see them in person. Still, she put on a brave face for Carol’s sake and pulled up a seat next to Carol’s.

Carol was leaning forward, her hand hovering next to Therese’s, but not quite touching. There was an air of desperation around her and it hurt Abby to see. She wanted to help, but there was nothing she could possibly say that would erase the pain, and she was left grasping at the silence.

A broken sob escaped Carol’s lips, and Abby placed a hand on her back until she regained control. “This was never supposed to happen,” Carol gasped. “God, Abby, she’s so young. I never thought… It should have been me.”

“Don’t say that,” Abby ordered softly. “She wouldn’t want you to say that, Carol. And when she comes out of this and I tell her you had the audacity to wish this upon yourself, you’re never going to live it down.”

“What if she never comes out of it?” The question was not meant to be heard, Abby could tell, and she half wanted to ignore it, but that wouldn’t be in Abby’s nature.

Abby squeezed Carol’s shoulder lightly in an effort at sympathy. “What did the doctors say?”

“That they don’t know.” Carol’s hands flittered nervously. “She’s stable for now, but they don’t know any of the longterm damages.”

“Well, then for her sake and yours we’ve got to keep hoping for the best,” Abby said with more determination than she felt, but Carol was clearly in need of hope. “It’s too early to start thinking about worse case scenarios.”

Carol nodded weakly, but said nothing. She was still so terrified of touching Therese, Abby noticed, and even shaking slightly. Abby continued to rub circles on Carol’s back and wait patiently as the minutes ticked by in suffocating silence. A large part of Abby was thankful that the hospital would not let Carol stay any longer past visiting hours, though she would never admit such a thing aloud. Carol needed sleep in a place somewhere with a bed, not a barely padded hospital chair.

“I told them I was her aunt,” Carol said after a moment. “Her fucking aunt.”

Abby laughed despite herself and shook her head. “Well, that’s something.”

Carol smiled weakly. Her thumb was inching closer and closer towards Therese’s hand, but only barely. The last time Carol had been in the hospital was for Rindy’s son’s birth, but before then, Abby wasn’t sure when. Between Rindy’s birth and Carol’s grandson, Carol had gone out of her way to avoid hospitals and the number of times she’d entered one since Rindy was born could probably be counted on both hands.

“Have you had anything to eat today?” Abby asked.

“We had brunch at Rindy’s this morning,” Carol muttered under hear breath.

Abby glanced at her watch — it was nearing nine o’clock, meaning Carol hadn’t eaten for several hours, although the fact she’d eaten at all was a somewhat comforting fact. Still, Abby’s mother had always taught her that food was the best comfort and most important thing. “I’ll make you dinner tonight.”

“No, no, there’s no need for that,” Carol started to shrug her off, but Abby interrupted quickly.

“I am your friend and I am going to make you a home-made meal. You do not have to eat all of it, you do not have to pretend to enjoy it, but this is the one thing I can do for you,” Abby insisted.

Carol shrugged in defeat and while Abby did not feel like she had won anything, the pit in her stomach gnawed a little less at Carol’s acquiescence. They sat in silence for the remaining moments of visiting hours, all the while Abby watching carefully as Carol held back tears. Always so stubborn, Abby mused sadly.

When the clock turned to nine, a nurse entered the room and told them with a soft voice that it was time to leave. Fortunately, the nurse did not question Abby’s presence, although it still took Carol several minutes to tear herself from Abby’s side.

Abby slung an arm around Carol’s shoulders as she guided them back to her car. She opened the passenger door for Carol once they arrived, trying her best to be helpful and yet feeling entirely insignificant. It hurt to know there was nothing she could do to help. In her own way, she wanted to cry for Therese, but she had to be strong. If she started crying, Carol would immediately try to be strong for her, and Abby couldn’t allow that.

Out of the corner of her eye, Abby watched as Carol rested her head against the car window and stared out at the city with empty, hollow eyes. There was no longer sadness coloring her features, only a void surrounding her, without the same tension there had been only a few minutes earlier.

The worst part of grief is knowing nothing can be done to change it, Abby often thought, but that was so much easier said than done.

“Do you remember when we were thirteen and my older brother got into that motorcycle accident?” Abby asked. It had been so long ago, but the memory of her mother crying always burned inside her memory. Her parents had banned him from driving the tattered vehicle, but teenage boys so rarely listened to their parents, and he had almost lost his life as a consequence.

Carol nodded. Abby had spent three nights at Carol’s house after the event, while her parents fretted at the hospital, none willing to let Abby see her brother in such a condition. Carol had distracted her with games of dress-up and adventure in the day and held her throughout the night.

“During that whole thing, I just wanted someone to tell me that it would be okay to cry.” Abby’s voice was low and soft, as if she were talking to a deer rather than her closest friend. “For whatever stupid, I couldn’t cry until someone told me I could. And I don’t think I ever thanked you for being that person.”

A strangled noise came from Carol and Abby reached over to grab her hand. “It is okay to cry. And whatever you need from me, I will be here.”

“Thank you, Abby,” Carol whispered, barely audible. A noise that was probably supposed to be a laugh escape d her lip. “I still need to tell Rindy.”

“I can do it if you need,” Abby offered and Carol smiled in appreciation.

At the apartment, Abby ushered Carol into her bedroom and quickly ordered her to change into more comfortable clothes after showering, which Carol agreed to without much protest. It was not so late that Rindy would be asleep, so once Abby heard the faucet start to run, she went to the phone and called.

“Hello?” She, like always, sounded so bright, and Abby hated to take away some of that sunshine.

“Rindy? It’s Abby,” she spoke quickly, cutting off small talk. She did not have the stomach for it. “Therese has been in an accident. She was admitted to Lennox earlier today and is currently in a coma.”

There was a gasp on the other side of the line. “What? Is mom okay?”

Abby hesitated. “She wasn’t in the car with Therese, but she’s struggling.” It was an understatement and without saying anything, Abby could tell Rindy knew so.

“Is… Is Therese alright?” Rindy whimpered. “I mean, I know she’s not, but how bad is it?”

“They aren’t sure yet,” Abby admitted. “Hopefully they’ll know more tomorrow. Your mother has told the hospital she’s Therese’s aunt and it doesn’t seem like she’s going to get caught on her lie, so if you want, you can visit tomorrow. Your mother might appreciate it.”

“I will. Take care of mom,” Rindy pleaded in a quiet voice.

“I’ll stay with her tonight,” Abby promised. “It’ll be okay.”

Abby moved to the kitchen after and started making a quick meal out of the few ingredients lying around the apartment, all the while listening to Carol’s bedroom for sounds of movement. The shower was shut off after a long while, but Carol did not come out of the room afterwards. When she had the opportunity, Abby peeped into Carol’s bedroom, knocking lightly first, but getting no response.

“Carol?” There was no response as she pushed open the door.

The reason why became obvious. Carol was spread across the bed, fast asleep and wrapped in nothing but a towel. Abby smiled indulgently and pulled the duvet over Carol’s sleeping form, kissing the crown of her head before slipping out of the room.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://rose-by-the-sea.tumblr.com/)


End file.
